AI adoption surges in India, but weak data foundations threaten enterprise-scale ROI

Indian enterprises are entering a new phase of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. AI is no longer confined to pilot projects or innovation labs. Organisations are investing more, expanding deployments across business functions, and beginning to see measurable returns. However, the latest findings from Dun & Bradstreet’s AI Momentum Survey suggest that one critical challenge continues to stand in the way of enterprise-scale success: data readiness.

The survey paints a picture of an Indian market that has moved decisively beyond AI experimentation. Every organisation surveyed has at least one AI initiative underway, underscoring how AI has become a strategic business priority rather than an emerging technology.

AI Moves From Experimentation to Enterprise Deployment

The maturity of AI adoption across Indian businesses is becoming increasingly evident. While 44% of organisations remain in the planning or pilot phase, many have progressed further along the adoption curve.

According to the survey:

30% are scaling AI into production.
19% have operationalised AI across multiple core business processes.
7% have already deployed agentic AI workflows.

The findings indicate that enterprises are gradually shifting from isolated use cases to embedding AI into day-to-day operations, marking a significant evolution in enterprise AI maturity.

Investment Momentum Remains Strong

Businesses are also backing AI ambitions with sustained investment.

Nearly seven in ten organisations (69%) expect to increase AI spending, including 56% anticipating moderate increases and 13% planning significant investment growth. The remaining 31% expect spending to remain unchanged, while notably, none foresee reducing AI investments.

This sustained investment signals growing confidence that AI will continue to play a central role in business transformation strategies.

ROI Is Emerging, But Not Yet Enterprise-Wide

Perhaps the strongest indicator of AI’s growing business relevance is that organisations are beginning to realise measurable returns.

According to the survey, 73% of respondents report some level of ROI from their AI initiatives.

However, the returns remain uneven.

Half of the organisations surveyed (50%) report measurable benefits only within specific business functions or pilot projects. Just 23% say they are achieving broad or strong returns across multiple AI initiatives.

This suggests that while AI is delivering value, many enterprises have yet to consistently replicate successful outcomes across the organisation.

Data Readiness Emerges as the Biggest Constraint

The survey’s most striking finding is the significant disconnect between AI adoption and enterprise data maturity.

Only 4% of organisations believe their enterprise data is fully ready to support AI at scale.

Instead:

58% describe their data as only partially ready.
30% say it is mostly ready.

The findings suggest that many organisations possess sufficient data to support early AI initiatives but lack the quality, governance and consistency required for large-scale deployment.

As AI models increasingly depend on accurate, trusted and well-governed enterprise data, weak data foundations risk becoming the primary barrier to scaling AI successfully across business functions.

Enterprise AI Enters Its Next Phase

Commenting on the findings, Julian Prower, Executive Vice President, Global Business Operations & Transformation and Managing Director & CEO, India & Taiwan, Dun & Bradstreet, said Indian businesses are moving rapidly from AI experimentation to enterprise adoption, with growing evidence of business value and return on investment. He noted that as organisations scale AI across the enterprise, data quality will increasingly determine the quality of business outcomes, adding that trusted business identity, context and insight are essential to translating AI momentum into sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

Beyond Adoption, Execution Becomes the New Differentiator

The survey reflects a broader shift in enterprise AI. Adoption is no longer the primary challenge; execution at scale is.

While organisations continue to invest aggressively and early business results are encouraging, sustained enterprise-wide value will depend less on deploying new AI models and more on strengthening the underlying data ecosystem that powers them.

The findings reinforce a broader global trend identified in Dun & Bradstreet’s Q3 AI Momentum Survey: as enterprises move beyond experimentation, success increasingly hinges on data readiness, governance and the ability to operationalise AI consistently across business functions.

For Indian enterprises, the next phase of AI competitiveness may therefore be defined not by who adopts AI first, but by who builds the strongest data foundation to support it.